A Run with the Ultimate Warriors - Tubman's Holiday Trot

This past Saturday, the Ultimate Warriors Running group celebrated a successful ultra season with the annual Tubman's Holiday Trot. The name was given in honour of Merle Tubman, the man who put this thing together for the past seven years. When the Holiday Trot was born, there were only six runners. The event has since grown to over 30 runners. We would have topped 40 on Saturday if everyone who gave their word actually showed up.

We all met around 8h00 on a frigid Saturday morning at the plaza where the runs take place from. We were to go 10.6 miles out and back through the park system. After we all met in the parking lot and greeted each other, we all started off running at a quick pace down the road towards the hospital where we would meet up with the park path. The sidewalk was a bit on the slippery side and we were grateful for the bike lane on the road. As we made our way through the park, we greeted other runners - solo runners and running groups alike. We also chatted along the way about what we have all been up to since the last time we met. We were all easy going as we went along. I chatted with Debrah all the way to the turnaround.

When we got close to where we were actually supposed to turnaround, we encountered thick sheets of ice. The consensus of the majority in the group was to turn around at the end of the parking lot. After gathering for a bit, we did just that. Some of the other stealth runners went ahead to the turnaround and caught up with us when we got to the washrooms. We also met up with the runners who took the late start and were doing the short route - to the washrooms and back. As a result of the short turn, we detoured and took another route through the park back to the plaza. Judging from the time it took us to get back, it is safe to say we still covered 10 miles or so.

Upon returning to the plaza, we met up with runners who did not make it to the run, as well as runners who did their own thing and met with us back at the plaza. Merle had the tailgate set up in the parking lot, complete with champagne and cookies. He was also collecting toys for the CHUM City Christmas Toy Drive. As usual, the donations were quite generous. After a little speech and toast by Merle, we had our group photo taken before heading inside to the Richtree Marché for some breakfast. While we were in there, we all further socialised and talked about goals for the upcoming year. Running Free was also gracious enough to donate some prizes and drawings were held. Our fearless leader, Jeff Cooper, then proceeded to make a speech and distribute Ultimate Warrior calendars which were put together by Iris and Bernie. The fun kept going until we were all ready to disperse to life away from each other, looking forward to future encounters and the famous hills which start on January 2nd, 2010.


After leaving the restaurant, I drove up the road to the YMCA closest to the plaza. Before showering, I decided to tackle a Crossfit Workout of the day.

Deadlift
5-5-5-5-5
then
21-15-9
Push Press 95#/65#
Burpee Box Jumps 20"/16"

One glitch... I forgot to pack a clean t-shirt so I kept on the lightweight fleece sweater I was wearing because my base layer top was wet with sweat and I did not want to put it back on. As a result, I quickly overheated. I was also tired so I was not in the best shape to deal with it. I got through the five sets of deadlifts, lifting 75lbs and the 21 repetitions of the second second before calling it a workout. The weight I used for the push press was 40lbs. I quickly left the gym and headed to the changeroom where I showered and sat in the sauna for a bit before heading out and running errands. The sauna also proved to be too hot, even after a cool shower and drinking lots of water. The effects felt for the rest of the day were not too pleasant to say the least...

Lesson learned... Crossfit workouts - or any workouts that are intense in nature - should not be attempted after runs longer than an hour unless it is a relatively easy set.

** Thank you Wayne for the wonderful photographs that appear on this post. For all Ultimate Warriors on Facebook, these photos plus more can be found on the group page for "The Ultimate Warriors". As the group is locked down, it is necessary to seek approval to join this group.